Chapter 44

Xu Er knew there was beer in Song Ruichi's refrigerator.

However, when Song Ruichi came over, the two bottles in his hand were of a color different from what Xu Er expected.

Xu Er asked in confusion, "What are these?"

Song Ruichi placed the two bottles on the table. "Fruit-flavored."

Xu Er uttered two "ohs"—they were fruit wines.

He nudged and turned the two bottles so the labels faced him.

They were not domestic fruit wines; the text on them was entirely in Japanese. Xu Er could only vaguely recognize the few characters that happened to be in Chinese, but judging by the pictures on the bottles—

"Passion fruit and green apple," Xu Er said.

Song Ruichi asked, "Which one do you want to drink?"

Xu Er waved a hand. "Only children make choices."

Song Ruichi smiled and opened both bottles.

"Wow," Xu Er said, resting his hands on his knees, his eyes shining. "Opening a bottle with one hand."

Song Ruichi sighed helplessly. "You're saying 'wow' at this too?"

Xu Er replied, "Doesn't matter, whatever big brother does right now, I'm going to say 'wow'."

Song Ruichi reached out and pinched Xu Er's cheek.

Of course, Xu Er wasn't just saying "wow" at Song Ruichi opening the bottle with one hand.

When Song Ruichi came back to cook, he had taken off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white shirt, and rolled up his sleeves. While the brightly lit dining room and kitchen had masked it somewhat, under the lighting here and now—

How could he not say "wow"?

Song Ruichi possessed a fair amount of muscle. There was a gym next to his building where Song Ruichi often went, and he also occasionally went for morning jogs.

"Are two bottles okay?" After opening them, Song Ruichi placed both bottles in front of Xu Er.

Xu Er straightened up. "Huh? Both for me?"

Song Ruichi asked, "Didn't you want both?"

Xu Er lost his nerve at that. "A modest taste. I'll give you whatever I can't finish."

Song Ruichi wore an expression that clearly said, "I knew it."

In this season, the weather was just right—chilly yet not too cold, and certainly not hot. Under such temperatures, taking a large gulp of iced wine felt simply...

The first taste in his mouth was passion fruit, and then the alcohol felt marked, its icy path distinctly traced all the way down his throat, lingering in his upper chest before coming to a stop somewhere.

"Wow," Xu Er sighed, "that's kind of refreshing."

He pushed the bottle toward Song Ruichi. "Take a sip too."

Song Ruichi didn't take the bottle; instead, he just leaned in closer.

So Xu Er fed him a sip.

After finishing that, Xu Er put the passion fruit bottle down on the table and picked up the green apple one.

Perhaps because his internal organs had already been chilled and were prepared, the green apple flavor went down without the initial intensity.

Following the exact same steps, after Xu Er finished drinking, he fed Song Ruichi a sip as well.

"Which one tastes better?" Song Ruichi asked.

"Passion fruit, it's a bit tart," Xu Er said, finding it slightly strange. "How come I can't taste any alcohol?"

Song Ruichi explained, "The fruit concentration is high."

Xu Er nodded, thinking that made sense. Since it was his first time drinking imported alcohol, maybe foreign wine was just like this.

Xu Er asked, "Is this higher in alcohol or are our domestic fruit wines higher?"

Song Ruichi replied, "About the same."

Xu Er took another sip of the passion fruit. "It's like drinking juice."

Song Ruichi said, "I treat it like juice."

"Your alcohol tolerance is so high, of course you can treat any wine like juice. But," Xu Er added, "you can't drive after drinking. You can't actually treat it like juice."

Song Ruichi acknowledged, "I know."

Reminded by this, Xu Er thought of some local gossip his mother had told him when he came home: "An older neighborhood guy downstairs got locked up for drunk driving, and his car can't be driven anymore. This isn't a joke."

Song Ruichi replied, "I know, I know."

*Animal Planet* continued to play on the TV. Xu Er instinctively reached into the drawer beneath the coffee table and pulled out two packs of snacks.

At that moment, Song Ruichi's phone rang. Xu Er glanced over casually and saw the caller ID displayed as "Ying Jing".

Song Ruichi answered, turned on speakerphone, placed the phone on the table, and conveniently tore open the two packs of snacks Xu Er had brought out.

"What is big brother up to? Not even replying to messages," Ying Jing asked from the other end.

Song Ruichi said, "Watching *Animal Planet*."

Ying Jing asked, "What on earth?"

Song Ruichi asked, "What's wrong?"

Ying Jing said, "What do you mean what's wrong? We're three short of four for mahjong, damn it, can't get anyone else. Are you coming or not?"

Xu Er bit down on the bottle rim, his ears perking up.

Song Ruichi said, "Not going."

Xu Er let out a breath of relief and took another sip of the passion fruit.

Ying Jing suggested, "Why don't you bring your precious along too?"

Song Ruichi said, "He's right next to me."

Ying Jing gave an "ah" sound. "Can he hear me talk?"

Song Ruichi answered, "Yes."

Ying Jing gave another "ah" sound and laughed. "Hello, Xu Er."

Xu Er replied, "Hello."

Ying Jing asked, "Want to play mahjong?"

Xu Er cast a look at Song Ruichi asking how to refuse.

Song Ruichi said, "He doesn't play, we're not going."

Ying Jing let out a crying wail. "Don't be like that. Then what are the two of you doing at home?"

Song Ruichi said, "Don't ask."

Ying Jing suddenly laughed again. "Fine, fine. Okay, okay."

Song Ruichi said, "Nothing else, hanging up."

Ying Jing said, "Alright, bye-bye."

With a beep, Ying Jing's voice disappeared.

And Xu Er, holding the passion fruit bottle, had his mind entirely filled with the phrase "your precious".

*Your precious?*

What did that mean?

He meant Xu Er, right?

If so...

Had it been discovered that Xu Er had asked Song Ruichi to call him "baby"?

Was Ying Jing teasing him, or did it mean something else?

"How come you suddenly wanted to drink tonight?"

Before Xu Er could figure it out, Song Ruichi suddenly asked him.

Xu Er paused.

This question seemed even more embarrassing.

Of course Xu Er couldn't come up with anything in an instant, so he could only say, "Can't I?"

Song Ruichi smiled. "You can."

Xu Er followed up with nonsense: "Drinking helps me sleep well."

Song Ruichi successfully took the bait: "Not sleeping well lately?"

Xu Er answered, "Not really."

Song Ruichi asked again, "Aren't you afraid of kissing me this time?"

Xu Er hurriedly shoved the wine bottle into his mouth, implying *I am currently drinking, therefore I cannot answer immediately.*

His brain began spinning at top speed.

"Almost done, I'll pass out and go to sleep immediately," Xu Er said, then thought about it and added, "Your place is easier to sleep in."

He added another line: "Every time I drink, I fall into a deep sleep."

He added yet another line: "I won't drink too much, it should be fine."

Unsure if this defense passed the test, Xu Er heard Song Ruichi make a sound.

It was impossible to tell if it meant "Oh," or "Hmm," or "Humph," or "Ha."

So Xu Er took another sip.

Then, without Song Ruichi knowing, he quietly took off his watch and put it in his pocket to prevent it from suddenly buzzing or beeping.

For some reason, though, Xu Er had already drunk more than half the bottle, yet he felt no sensation whatsoever; it truly felt like drinking juice.

Was there really such a big difference in foreign alcohol?

Or did the so-called "delayed kick" only hit after a certain point?

Another episode of *Animal Planet* ended. Xu Er had finished a pack of snacks, and there were only a few sips of wine left in the bottle.

As for his brain, at this moment, it felt nothing other than entirely sober.

The TV screen was automatically transitioning. Neither of them spoke about whether to watch the next episode.

Xu Er certainly had no objections; as long as he could just sit here with Song Ruichi like this, he didn't even need to watch TV.

Only, he wondered what Song Ruichi was thinking. Viewed from a god's-eye perspective, they were actually quite boring—truly, they might as well have gone to play mahjong.

Xu Er took another sip and then berated himself for being straight-laced just now.

Play what mahjong?! What a lunatic.

The next episode of *Animal Planet* began. Xu Er stealthily turned his head to glance at Song Ruichi.

That glance was truly lethal.

With his loosened collar, the arms exposed from the rolled-up sleeves, Song Ruichi was leaning against the sofa propped up by one leg, holding a bottle with his thumb and middle finger hooked around it while his index finger lightly rested on the edge, eyes beneath his gold-rimmed glasses drooping lazily as he watched the television.

Xu Er thought of that ferocious lion from earlier—when there was no prey, it would lie flat on the ground, languid yet still radiating wild, untamed beastly energy.

Song Ruichi was truly bewitching.

Because of the reflection from the television, Xu Er could see the small black hair clip in Song Ruichi's hair.

The clip suddenly shifted as Song Ruichi tilted his head back to take a sip of wine.

Xu Er blinked, his gaze drawn to Song Ruichi's Adam's apple, watching it bob up and down rapidly.

In tandem, Xu Er couldn't help but swallow hard.

At that moment, Xu Er felt like he was finally experiencing a slight, dizzying sense of intoxication.

A massive patch of withered yellow grass on the TV cast a withered, yellow glow that instantly washed over Song Ruichi.

Xu Er thought, was his gaze a bit too scorching?

As he was thinking this, the next second, Song Ruichi turned his head.

He locked eyes with Xu Er.

Xu Er didn't want to wait anymore.

Since he was drinking alcohol, pretending to be drunk counted as being drunk, and if he wasn't drunk, he'd make himself drunk.

Xu Er felt completely unpanicked at this moment. After their eyes met, he calmly gave Song Ruichi a smile.

Song Ruichi reached out and gently stroked the hair on Xu Er's forehead twice.

"Hmm?"

Xu Er hesitated half a beat before replying, "Hmm?"

Song Ruichi lowered his hand, pulling it back to rest on the edge of the sofa.

Just as Xu Er was wondering what the next step would be, Song Ruichi spoke again: "Come sit over here."

Xu Er hesitated another half a beat, responding with his body as he scooted closer to Song Ruichi's side.

Saying too much leads to mistakes.

Xu Er decided to adopt a strategy of unnecessary silence and delayed movements.

Once seated, Xu Er leaned back, only to realize that the hand Song Ruichi had previously left on the edge of the sofa was now right behind Xu Er's neck and back.

It was a very clever, perfectly encompassing embrace.

Perhaps it was simply too natural; Song Ruichi curved his arm and genuinely pulled Xu Er into his embrace.

Xu Er smiled secretly to himself.

Song Ruichi rested his elbow on Xu Er's shoulder, his arm hanging down naturally.

There was no grass left on the TV screen; it was now filming crocodiles in the water.

There were no crocodiles left in Xu Er's vision—only that hand of Song Ruichi's in his peripheral view.

Xu Er desperately wanted to hold it.

Holding the whole thing would be fine, and holding just a single index finger would be fine too.

He wanted to touch Song Ruichi.

So badly.

He wanted to way too much.

If he wanted to touch him, he would.

So Xu Er lifted his hand.

Just as he was about to make contact, Song Ruichi moved.

Xu Er's hand froze mid-air as he watched Song Ruichi's hand rise in his peripheral vision, his fingertips coming up to brace Xu Er's chin.

Song Ruichi's fingers were very long; his fingertips first lightly grazed Xu Er's chin, then flipped over to grip it.

Song Ruichi's movement was very slow and gentle; Xu Er even felt a slight, fuzzy texture against his skin.

This touch made Xu Er's heart race violently.

He could feel the blood vessels in his fingers pulsing in time with his heartbeat, and he felt a surge of heat rushing to his head, his neck growing hot, making him feel dizzy.

The crocodile crawled ashore.